


A Myth Made Man Again

by tonybanner27



Series: Kazumi Totaka [1]
Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout 4
Genre: Additional Warnings Apply, Alternate Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fallout (Video Games) Setting, Asexual Character, Brotherhood of Steel (Fallout), Canon Rewrite, Implied Relationships, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Minor Character Death, My First AO3 Post, Not All Problems Are Solved Through Violence SMH, Not Beta Read, Not Canon Compliant, Other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Series, Spoilers, The Railroad (Fallout), fallout spoilers, unedited
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-23
Updated: 2020-07-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 22:33:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 8,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25473937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonybanner27/pseuds/tonybanner27
Summary: Focusing on the Main Fallout Questline, with major divergences, this fic focuses on my Sole Survivor Kazumi Totaka as he goes through the events of Fallout 4. There will be heavy use of canon dialogue when applicable, and changes in main quest events as well as the final ending. This is the first part in a series of Totaka's adventures, exploits, and changes to the Commonwealth. Any other fics involving Totaka will have a place in this main "Timeline" or may diverge from it's canon. This is not edited and I am writing it as I play through the actual game with Totaka as my character. It will be messy, imperfect, and obviously, not 100% accurate to F4 canon. Expect many lore and past game references; as well as references to my other OCs and their stories.
Relationships: Paladin Danse/Arthur Maxson, Preston Garvey/Sturges
Series: Kazumi Totaka [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1845256
Comments: 4
Kudos: 3





	1. Frigid Dreams, Burning Wake

**Author's Note:**

> Kazumi Totaka Leaving Vault 111. Super short opening chapter, y'all've played it 1000 times.

Coldness reaches a point it burns; burns in lungs that shouldn’t flutter, burns images into the eyes of fathers watching frosted-over nightmares, and brands itself into the bones of a man waking from the clutches of a man-made Purgatory.

Kazumi Totaka’s eyes opened to meet the glass of a cryopod, alarms blaring in his ears as the pod opened and he collapsed onto the frigid concrete. His body ached from disuse, and he stifled a groan as he looked around him. Everything was sluggish; like the frozen over cliffs blown to hell in the Great War his mind moved in slow motion as his body crackled into some semblance of life.

Memories; flashing in time with the orange lights and sirens; memories of his wife running beside him, cradling their infant son Shaun and praying for safety in the local Vault. Nora, still holding their baby as she climbed into the cryopod, a doctor promising the couple safety for Shaun and “a new life underground” with Vault Tec. That same doctor’s skeleton now gaped at him, lifeless eyes replaced by ice crystals and Vault Tec lab coat stiff as the preserved bones. More memories now; trapped and watching as a woman in a hazmat suit ripped Shaun from Nora’s arms; watching as the scarred, bald man ordering her to do so shot Nora in the chest without flinching. Staring into dark eyes as the mysterious figure turned to the newly made widower’s pod, growling out words with no meaning.  
“At least we have the spare.”

Awake. He was awake now, and one glance down the grim row of cryopods told him he was alone. Slowly Totaka stood, trembling as he lurched to his wife’s pod and his hand pounded on the control pad. It opened, somehow, revealing her freezer burned body with blood congealed around her upper chest and hands where she had tried to hold her wound. A sob cracked out like a gunshot from Totaka’s chest; barely audible over the alarms and a cool robotic voice repeating “Critical failure in systems array” over his frail grief. Totaka stumbled to check the other pods, gasping and slipping on the treacherous concrete beneath him.

“Hello!? Is anyone there? Anyone!?” He screamed, voice hoarse and cracking from the strain of being used so harshly. Every single occupant of the pods, every neighbor and dear friend Totaka knew was dead, their bodies abandoned in the coffins Vault Tec had built and marketed as a home. The walls seemed to close in, crushing into his chest and rendering him incapable of rational thought. He needed to get OUT.  
He bolted, slamming into the walls as he rounded the wide vault corners and slipped, scrambling for purchase on icy slick concrete. He crashed into a table, a security baton falling in front of his hand and startling two cockroaches the size of Mrs. Callahan’s Chihuahuas. Giant cockroaches!? They hissed, green foam dripping from their mandibles as the bigger one leapt with wings fluttering directly into his face. Totaka didn’t think, just swung the baton viciously upwards, nearly bisecting the creature as it’s carapace split open and splatting the rest of its body on the ground. Totaka swept himself onto his feet and ground the other roach under his heel before it could jump.

“Gaint cockroaches!? What the hell?” he panted, staring in disbelief at the green goo dripping from his baton. He resumed his brutal journey through the maze of decaying halls and Vault rooms, grabbing a holotape from a functioning terminal before bursting into what seemed to be the main office. He grabbed the Stimpaks and ammo on the counter, shoving them into the pockets on his Vault Suit. A 10mm Pistol also rested on the table, still functioning as Totaka quickly tested it, loading and cocking it in less than a second. His time in the Army served him well, higher thinking processes replaced by a keen survival and combat instinct that drove his body to keep moving. He checked the other rooms, finding more ammo and a huge gun in a metal case. He examined the lock and growled in frustration, seeing the bulletproof glass would not yield to any melee attempts to break it, or the case around it. He went back to the rounded counter, tripping over the skeleton of the supposed Overseer as he saw a reassuring green blinking icon on the screen of the only terminal present.

“Alright, focus. Open the door, open the door. Get out.” Totaka whispered hoarsely to himself, adjusting the thin wire framed glasses on his nose as he scanned the entries on the terminal and rapidly selected through different menus and commands. The massive security door on the opposite wall hissed and slid open, another two of the freakishly large cockroaches crawling forward into their new territory. Not wasting a single bullet, Totaka continued to use the baton to beat every insect into a pile of mush. He finally made it to the Vault door, shoving the screwdriver strewn by the back tunnel into his Vault Suit pockets, and he disposed of the final two roaches to search the lockers. He was rewarded with more ammunition for his pistol, and kept a hand on his baton as he made it to the Vault controls. A skeleton was on the small platform, A Pip-Boy partially concealed by the tattered labcoat.

“You don’t need this any longer.” Totaka said, clipping the portable computer onto his arm and nearly crying in relief as he found it was fully functional, clicking and whirring comfortingly as he plugged in the override to the Vault Door itself. As he stepped onto the elevator to the surface, the last thing he heard from Vault 111 was a recorded female voice cooly saying:  
““Enjoy your return to the surface; and Thank you, for choosing Vault Tec.”


	2. As I Live and Breathe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Returning to his home, Totaka finds Codsworth and tries to make things livable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is super heavy on the canon dialogue, I adore poor Codsworth's introduction too much. How DOES one polish rust?

Totaka did not fucking enjoy his return to the surface. Firstly, the elevator was pitch black, and every shudder and strange noise of the metal as it rushed through frigid black air struck new waves of terror into Totaka’s already worn down nerves. Secondly, the surface was excruciatingly bright. Totaka had to shut his eyes as the elevator shaft opened above him, sunlight pouring in and rendering him blind as the space around him rapidly expanded and eventually stopped moving around him. When he could finally open his eyes, he wished that sun had left him blind. 

It seemed as if centuries had passed: the once lush grass was dead and unmoving, the trees gnarled and slate browns and greys in the freakishly bright sun. Totaka could see the roofs of his neighborhood and the hazy outline of Red Rocket Truck Stop on the horizon, over the seemingly endless twisted, barren trees. There were no birds chirping, no rabbits or squirrels rustling around picnic blankets or dodging construction crews. Shadows of people remained, burned into the charred dirt and weathered from what very well could have been decades of thin, hot air blasting over what was left of them. Totaka could barely breathe, the air seemed devoid of oxygen and his throat tightened as he screwed up his eyes to ease the pricking in his tearless eyes. He couldn’t even cry, just shake and stare in horror and disbelief at the wasted land around him; a startling and inescapable Purgatory washed over his home. 

Totaka slowly started to make his way back to the path he had seemed to just run up beside his wife and son, looking through the rusted and collapsed trailers as he did so. His nerves were on high alert, every sound startling him as he moved to clear blindspots and investigate his surroundings. He found an army bag in a spilled over crate near the Vault elevator, and emptied his bulging pockets into it as he kept finding things. He found more bobby pins, a switchblade stuck into a terminal, and a small handful of bottle caps, all of which he took. The bottlecaps were more habit than anything; he had maintained a large collection ever since he moved to Massachusetts, and during his army tours he sent them home for Nora to make into murals. It became… family tradition; something to share with Shaun when he got older and to surround him with art from the mundane. So Totaka took them, letting the edges bite into his still cold skin and taking comfort in the pin pricks of pain he felt in his palm. When he reached the edge of Sanctuary Hills, those pin pricks disappeared as he went numb from sheer shock. 

The beautiful neighborhood he and his wife started their family in, the neighborhood where they planned to raise their son, the neighborhood they wanted to sustain a future in, utterly destroyed. Shells of houses remained, some completely collapsed and some still standing but rusted, aged, dilapidated from the force of the bombs and the fallout it left behind. Totaka felt his throat tightening again, despair building in his chest only to be dashed by a strange, eerily familiar sound. The soft woosh of a propulsion jet, and the snip-click of hedge trimmers through dead branches. Totaka’s eyes focused on where the sound originated, baffled to see his Mr. Handy butler, Codsworth, trimming the dead hedged around what remained of their home like nothing was amiss. 

“... Codsworth?” Totaka said slowly, his hands falling to his sides as he strode up the cracked sidewalk to his friend. Codsworth turned, his eyestalks bouncing back in shock as the lenses widened. 

“As I live and breathe… it’s, it’s  _ really _ you!” Codsworth exclaimed joyously, rushing forward to the lawn where Totaka stood in utter disbelief. 

“Codsworth… you’re… still here. So, other people could still be alive, too…” Totaka said slowly, reaching out to touch Codsworth’s barely dented shell. 

“ Well of course I'm still here. Surely you don't think a little radiation could deter the pride of General Atomics International?” Codsworth said, notes of amusement and pride in his voice. His flamethrower attachment twitched slightly as he looked Totaka over properly. 

“But you seem the worse for wear. Best not let the wife see you in that state. Where is the missus, by the way?” He continued, peering over Totaka’s shoulder as if to see Nora walking up the street any moment. Totaka felt a catch in his stomach, his hand dropping to his side again. He felt himself drift away for a moment, his mind returning to his body to hear himself speaking. 

“They came into the Vault…” He remembered the woman in a hazmat suit, and the bald murderer. He looked up. “Maybe you saw them? Armed, wearing… strange outfits.” He asked, not daring to let hope creep into his breathless voice. 

“Only Ms. Rosa's boy, running around in his Halloween costume, more than a week early. I swear, the nerve of that woman leaving her brat unsupervised.” Codsworth tutted, waving his grabber towards the completely collapsed house behind him in disdain. “Not like this family, sir. You and the missus have always been such a responsible couple. Where... is she, by the by?” He asked again. Totaka frowned, looking at the back portion of Codsworth’s frame to check his central panel. Nothing seemed broken or tampered with though… 

“It's been ages since we've had a proper family activity. Checkers. Or perhaps charades. Shaun does so love that game. Is the lad... with you...?” Codsworth continued placidly, looking around at the neighborhood. “Perhaps Nora took him to the Parker residence to arrange a play-date. I’m sure they will be back momentarily.” He decided. 

“Codsworth… You’re acting… a little bit weird. What’s wrong?” Totaka asked, hoping perhaps a self diagnostic scan would still function. Codsworth’s eye stalks twisted oddly for a moment, and he sunk lower to the ground than was normal for his model of Mr. Handy.

“I.... I… Oh sir, it's been just horrible! Two centuries with no one to talk to, no one to serve. I spent the first ten years trying to keep the floors waxed, but nothing gets out nuclear fallout from vinyl wood. Nothing! And don't get me started about the futility of dusting a collapsed house. And the car! The car! How do you polish rust?” Codsworth seemed to come out of the Pre-War daydream in an instant, and Totaka briefly wondered if the radiation damage had somehow turned his butler to a startlingly more sentient robot. 

“Codsworth, stay with me, try to focus.” Totaka said calmly, keeping his voice firm. 

“I’m afraid I don't know anything, sir. The bombs came, and all of you left in such a hurry. I thought for certain you and your family were... dead. I did find this holotape. I believe the missus was going to present it to you. As a surprise. But then, well... everything  _ happened. _ ” Codsworth produced a holotape from his storage compartment, gently placing it in Totaka’s hands. He stared at it for a moment, thinking about everything Codsworth said. Then it hit him.

“Codsworth, did you say two  _ centuries _ ?” He asked, looking up. 

“A little over two hundred and ten, give or take for the Earth’s rotation and some minor dings to the ol’ chronometer. Shall I whip you up a snack? You must be suffering from hunger induced paranoia! Shall I whip you up a snack? You must be famished.” Codsworth offered, notes of the false-cheeriness entering his voice again. 

Totaka looked down, swaying slightly as he inspected his perfectly preserved body, expecting it to wither and turn to dust and leave him like the skeletons he saw outside the Vault gates. He looked around, the sun was so bright, so harsh, casting a cruel light on the two-hundred years of degradation to Totaka’s former home. Two hundred years since… his life. 

His life: being born in Our Lady of Hope Hospital premature with his umbilical cord around his neck, celebrating birthdays, achievements, his parents vow renewal, holding his baby brother for the first time… Meeting Nora, falling head over heels with the strongest and most kind woman he’d ever met… His brother’s draft into the military… Totaka took his brother’s name and went to war for him, only to find out he died two days after Totaka left. Nora moved to Massachusetts after a fight with her own family, and Totaka found out it was because Nora was pregnant, a miracle in the midst of war and desolation… Coming home. The plan. 

Totaka blinked out of his reverie, finding that he was staring at a charred Halloween decoration behind Codsworth as tears ran down his face. Nothing felt real, his fingertips numb as he fumbled with the handle of his baton and a single sob wracked his body. Codsworth gently touched his forearm, and Totaka looked up with hollow eyes. 

“ I have an idea. Let's search the neighborhood together. After all, Nora and young Shaun. They're... they're my family too.” He said, tugging Totaka’s arm and pulling him back into his body again. Totaka looked around the neighborhood, a heavy, armor like apathy slowly settling into his skin. 

“What’s dangerous around here?” He asked. 

“Well, besides a few of those awful “radroaches”, as I’ve heard them called, and of course October’s final mosquitoes, I have kept the area free from invaders. There are still others left in this world, though most are simply awful and spread out. And when you do encounter them? Oh the cruelty! You're either... target practice or... spare parts! Now, let’s search the area, young Shaun may turn up yet!” Codsworth finished, turning to whoosh through the neighborhood. Totaka grabbed one of his robotic arms, sighing. 

“Codsworth, Shaun has been kidnapped. We won’t find him here…” He explained. Codsworth stopped in his track again, turning with drooping eyestalks. 

“You... you mean to say they're really gone, don't you? Oh sir…” 

“Thank you for trying Codsworth.” Totaka said, letting him go and looking around. This neighborhood was empty, he could feel it, and a listlessness overcame him as the sun reached its zenith in the flat blue sky. Codsworth sniffed, picking his buzzsaw off the ground as it dipped in despair. 

“You’re welcome sir. Now, enough feeling sorry for myself. There is still you, and me.” His optimism was melancholic and weak, but nevertheless he turned to Totaka and hovered at a starchy attention stance worthy of the military. 

“You can't give up, sir. What about the city? Concord is nearby, and, well, the people there have only shot at me a few times…” He said, trailing off at the notion of being shot at again. 

“There’s still people alive in Concord?” Totaka asked distantly, looking to the horizons where he could just make out a few hazy building outlines. 

“Yes, although they're a bit rough. You remember the way? Just across the southern footbridge out of the neighborhood and past the Red Rocket station.” Codsworth instructed, taking note of Totaka’s distance from reality. “Plenty of people there. And last I checked, they only pummeled me with sticks a few times before I had to run back home.” Totaka nodded, running his hands over his face and taking a sharp breath in to focus himself. 

“Okay… we need to make this place liveable again first.” He said, running his hands through his hair and wincing. The cryo chamber had fried the ends of his long hair, leaving freezer burnt split ends that started breaking off at the slightest touch. “And I need a haircut.” 

Codsworth surveyed the area with his three eyestalks, thinking to himself with a slight mutter. He seemed to decide as he went, turning back to Totaka firmly.

“Hrm, yes, a logical first order of business would be to take the valuables of each house to a more secure and central location. Might I recommend the house just across the way? It has a most practical workbench already set up by some traders some years ago.” Codsworth suggested, gesturing to an almost intact home across the street. Totaka nodded, picking at his ruined hair in annoyance and taking in another deep breath. He looked the house over, noticing the holes in the walls and exposed garage and porch area. 

“Great idea Codsworth, why don’t you start taking intact panels from the ruined houses and I’ll start bringing the valuable salvage here to one of the back rooms. If we work together this could be a safe house by sundown.” He started walking to his old home, shoving down the sick feeling as he stepped through the doorway. “I want to grab my box of holotapes to record as much as I can.” 

“You’ll want to get your bottlecaps as well sir, they’re the commonwealth’s currency.” Codsworth advised, his blowtorch crackling to life as he carefully separated walls from the wreckage of another house. Totaka paused, tilting his head.

“Huh, How forward thinking of me to have kept so many. What else has value now?” He called, finding his box of blank holotapes and carrying it to his soon to be fortified house. 

“All sorts of odds and ends. Magazines, such as that comic book are in high value. Old watches, gold ,is quite rare, weapons and armor are good of course. Tools fetch a price, but are good to have for yourself. I’m sure you’ll get a knack for the wasteland’s trading system soon enough.” Codsworth reassured, gesturing with his grabber to the countertop where a small assortment of odds and ends rested. “I’ve kept a small bounty for whenever you returned, or in the sad event I had to make my leave.” Totaka smiled warmly and nodded, hefting the pile into his arms. 

“Thank you Codsworth. I’m grateful you stayed for as long as you did. Let’s get the valuables moved from all the houses and get everything organized.” He said, watching as Codsworth followed with another small pile of goods. 

“Yes sir, that sounds most efficient!” He agreed. 

* * *

They worked all day, but by the time the sun was setting not only had every house been picked clean of valuable items, including medicine and quite a few guns Totaka found, but the house was in somewhat decent shape. Codsworth had helped move the bigger pieces of steel to cover up the holes in the wall and the roof, and most everything had been moved in. 

The mattresses were arranged neatly in the former kitchen area, blocked off by some quickly nailed in pieces of wood, and a small fire crackled in the large living room area. A couch, miraculously the only one intact, was pushed closer to it, and boxes of organized odds and ends were stacked next to it. 

Tradeable items were set aside: Totaka’s material luck continued in several gold watches and lockets, and other rare items. A cellar had yielded the best loot, including two cases of beer, three gold bars, and a lot of non-irradiated food. All the food was on a table in the corner of the room, near enough to the fire that Codsworth, on guard duty, could see if anything tried to take it. Personal items were also in the kitchen area with the mattresses, Totaka’s bottle caps, holotapes, and weapons and armor. He already had over six hundred bottle caps, an astounding amount for one person in the Commonwealth to have. 

Codsworth also managed to cut Totaka’s hair; almost half of the length was lost and Totaka was left with a layered shag that just brushed the nape of his neck. The top was longer and he was relieved to find he could tie most of his hair back like he had done before, albeit much shorter than before.

As darkness began to settle over this new world Totaka found himself in, he felt a small sense of security knowing he had the beginnings of a home, and a plan. He would find his son; day by day ensuring his child had something to return to in the process. 

* * *

Despite the exhaustion of his waking day, Totaka barely slept. The cold of the night seemed to lock his body back into that cryopod; his nightmares leaving him in a vast, frozen waste with the scarred man’s voice grating up his spine with every turn. 

_ “At least we have the spare.”  _ Totaka turned that sentence over in his mind; thousands of questions burning like cold fire in him. Spare what? Why him? Who were they? The sleet whipped around him, the white snow blinding with fluorescent light from every direction. No matter how hard he ran he barely moved, slogging against a barrier, a giant rubber band putting constant pressure on his legs. He collapsed, defeated; cold wind taking all the air from his lungs and letting him suffocate out there in the endless white. It lasted… eternity, laying there with aching eyes and a chest caving in from trying to inhale the vacuum of desperate nothingness. Eventually he felt his eyes turn hot, his vision started to bloom red and he could just make out a horizon, a break in the white void as his head lolled to the side. He started falling, his stomach rushed into his throat and his heart tightened into an excruciating burst- 

* * *

When Totaka woke, it was dark. His heart was beating rapidly, the uneven rhythm slowing as he sat up and wrapped his arms around himself in the warm darkness. It was cold at night here, he knew that, and even as the sheen of sweat on his body cooled he couldn’t help but wish he had more than the meager blankets he and Codsworth dug up from the abandoned houses. Totaka ran his hands over his face, feeling the blood warmth in his palms and sighing heavily from relief. He glanced around, peering over the edge of the rough wooden barrier between his sleeping area and the living room. The small campfire was embers now, casting steady shadows towards Totaka’s nook and leaving it all but invisible to anyone coming inside the house. He laid back down, taking another shaky breath and turning onto his side to keep more of his body heat. He slowly slipped back away to sleep, embers replacing the sleet storm and allowing him a small respite from the cold world.


	3. Conflict Resolutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Totaka acquires a new canine companion, and finds that the "settlers" in Concord are not all what they seem.

Red Rocket Truck Stop was a popular establishment; with ice cold Nuka Cola in every friendly, bright red gas station, people would often come to relax as their fusion powered cars were polished or spruced up. Now, although the crumbling structure and faded, peeling red paint spoke of the wastelands effect on the world, it still had the same Pre-War charm. The dog was by far the best part. 

A friendly bark alerted Totaka to the presence of a large German Shepherd, sniffing around a first aid kit randomly strewn on the ground by a gas pump. Totaka cautiously approached it, staying low so as not to frighten or scare the large dog away. The German Shepherd was either the friendliest or dumbest dog in the Wasteland, bounding up to Totaka and sniffing at his boots before bumping against his legs and demanding to be pet. 

“Hey there, you sure are- oof, friendly.” Totaka said, obligingly rubbing it head affectionately and looking around. “Where’s your owner?” no other person was around, so Totaka shrugged and looked back at the dog, chuckling as it rolled over and panted happily. 

“Wanna come with me girl?” He asked. The dog yapped and rolled back over, trotting a foot in front of Totaka and pointing down the road to Concord. Totaka shrugged again, allowing the dog to take point for the rest of the short walk. 

She bounced along ahead of him, until the  _ pap-pap-pap  _ of gunfire alerted them to danger. Totaka crouched down low and took a tiny, sliver of a back alley between two large storefronts to peek down the main street, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

* * *

A man in a colonial overcoat and militia hat stood on the balcony of the Museum of Freedom, firing a laser musket at a rag-tag group of… settlers? Five individuals dressed in an odd assortment of leather and metal armors, armed with what looked to be pistols made from scrap, for lack of a better word. These people looked hungry, desperate, and afraid, dodging laser musket blasts and firing haphazardly while a blue-mohawked man barked orders and cursed the colonial figure above. 

Totaka frowned thoughtfully, holstering the 10mm Codsworth has repaired for him, and stepping out into the street with his hands up. He could shoot these people, all of them, but what kind of person does that make him in a world that already runs on cruelty? What kind of a man does that make him now, to run in and blindly fire at whatever moves? These questions sparked in Totaka’s mind for a fraction of a second; right after the gun grip left his hand and just before the first step into the street. He took a shaky breath and lifted his chin with brazen determination.

"CEASE FIRE." He bellowed, shivering in his thin blue Vault Suit as the words left him and silently praying he didn't get shot on the spot. Shockingly, he didn't, and the settlers and colonial man both stared down at Totaka in utter disbelief and shock. Totaka looked around, his heart pounding out of his chest as he swallowed and spoke up again. 

"I was told there were settlers here in Concord, people surviving. So who is going to explain to me the meaning of this shootout?" He asked sternly, looking pointedly at the blue mohawk and colonial man. One of the settlers near Totaka; a girl who looked no more than twenty years old, slowly lowered her rudimentary weapon. 

“We- we have orders from Jared to take the old woman alive! Everyone else is dead, we  _ know _ they have food and water up there.” She said, scowling half-heartedly as she pointed to the balcony. The colonial man leaned over. 

“You’re not taking Mama Murphy anywhere, and even if we had food we sure as hell wouldn’t give it to you. You Raiders have stolen enough from innocent people.” He retorted in disgust, to which the blue haired “raider” scoffed. He gestured to a dead body laying on the sidewalk, looking up.

“You call that an innocent act, Minuteman?” He accused, inhaling to yell more before Totaka held his hands up a little higher and interrupted.

“Enough, both of you!” He ordered, sighing and putting his hands on his hips. “Okay, you’re in charge of these people right?” He asked the blue haired man, gesturing to the five raiders in the street. The blue haired man nodded.

“Yeah. Name’s Gristle.”

“And you’re in charge of your people up there?” He called to the colonial man.

“That’s right. Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minutemen.” Totaka sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Gristle and Preston Garvey, alright.” Totaka straightened his back and looked between the two leaders, crossing his arms. 

“I have enough food and water for everyone here and then some, and I will lead to where under two conditions. No more killing each other, and you talk to each other with respect. Does that sound manageable?” He asked. Gristle frowned and looked at his people, raising an eyebrow. He turned to Totaka and spoke as Preston Garvey called down indignantly. 

“Listen vault dweller, if you think-” 

“I am not risking my people for some rai-”

* * *

All sentences were cut off by a loud, metallic  **_BOOM._ ** Everyone froze, turning down the main street to where the sound had come from. Dead silence.  **_BOOM._ ** A huge metal door at the end of the street flew open with a final horrible sound, and crawling out from the underground space was- a… Totaka tilted his head. A dinosaur?

“DEATHCLAW!” Gristle yelled, grabbing the arm of the person nearest to him and running for the Museum doors. His people followed suit, and Totaka barked orders alongside both him and Garvey as the massive reptile roared and bared it’s maw to the sky. 

“Get them inside! Garvey, get down and keep everyone quiet until we reach the second floor!” Totaka called, his voice cracking as he helped a brown haired, stocky raider pry open the Museum doors and help everyone inside. 

“The main gate is locked, use the entrance to the right when you’re inside!” Preston replied, closing the door to the balcony as Totaka and Gristle slammed the main doors shut. 

Totaka looked around as an eerie silence filled the air, coughing to suppress the urge to sneeze. He looked around at the five equally terrified people with him, waving a flat hand for them to slowly make their way upstairs following the path Preston gave them. When they finally reached the landing, Preston was crouched near the doorway waiting for them.

“I have one of my people watching it, it’s still down the street sniffing one of the old buildings.” He said in a strained whisper. Totaka nodded, allowing Preston to lead the six of them to the back room where four more Minutemen settlers huddled together nervously. An old woman who Totaka assumed to be Mama Murphy, a middle aged Korean couple, and a mechanic. Totaka let the five raiders file in first before silently shutting the door behind them all; effectively eliminating any physical divides between the two groups. 

“Alright, Gristle, Preston, my name is Totaka. Now that we all know each other, I say we set aside our differences and address the 13-foot tall _ bigger problem _ outside. If we can all get through this alive, then we’ll talk about who’s a raider and who’s killing who next. Manageable?” Totaka asked, swallowing nervously as Gristle and Preston both glared daggers at each other. They turned to Totaka and nodded begrudgingly, which was more than enough.

“Good. So, any ideas?”

“We need to lure it away long enough to get everyone out of here, we’re sitting ducks.” Gristle said lowly, leaning up to look over one of the half boarded windows. Preston started to say something with a mean look but Totaka held up his hand again, pausing the remark. 

“Garvey, how do you propose we do that?” He asked. Preston sighed, waving over the mechanic behind him.  
“Sturges, tell him.”   
“There’s a crashed vertibird up on the roof, and it looks li’ one of its passengers left behind a seriously sweet goodie. A full suite of cherry T-45 Power Armor.” Sturges drawled excitedly. 

Gristle’s eyebrows shot up and he nodded, glancing at Totaka who was scratching his stubble in thought. 

“That’s not all.” Sturges continued. “Get the armor, and you can rip the minigun right off the vertibird, give that Deathclaw an express ticket to hell.” 

Totaka nodded and glanced at the window again, mirrored by Preston and a few of the other settlers. He looked around at everyone again, starting to speak before the brown haired raider spoke up.

“Gristle… I don’t see Buttons.” He said. Gristle looked around and his face paled, glancing at the young woman next to him and exhaling nervously. 

“Sarah, where did you last see Buttons?” He asked, waving a hand as Totaka tilted his head. “She’s Joseph’s little girl, seven year old, kinda kleptomaniac.” He explained shortly. Sarah thought for a second and gasped softly, her eyes going wide. 

“She’s collecting fuses in the corner store.” She whispered. Joseph leapt to the window and leaned out as cautiously as he could, the tension in the room spiking as he looked around. 

“Jesus fuck, she’s on the roof. Don’t wave, don’t wave!” He hissed, waving a hand and turning back to the group. Totaka walked next to him and peeked out, seeing a little girl watching the Deathclaw with wide brown eyes and a fistful of fuses. 

“Alright, here’s the plan. I’m going to get in that Power Armor, and lure the Deathclaw down the street to the church. Joseph will run and get Buttons while Gristle and Preston lead everyone to Red Rocket Truck Stop. If I’m not there in an hour, just keep following the street north to Sanctuary Hills. Manageable?” Totaka said. Sturges frowned. 

“There’s just one catch. The suit’s out of juice; pro’lly been that way for a hundred years now.” He said.

“What you’ll need is a Pre-War FC, a standardized Fusion Core.” Preston interjected, hoping that Totaka knew what that was. 

“We’ve found one down in the basement, but it’s locked tight behin’ a security gate. Look, I fix stuff, ‘ah tinker, but cracking a high security gate just ain’ my thing.” Sturges said, gesturing to the terminal behind him. Totaka frowned and leaned over the terminal, fiddling with the keyboard and sniffing as the  _ clack-clack-clack  _ filled the small space.

“It’s open, if someone can sneak down and get it, I know how to operate Power Armor.” He said, barely registering the impressed look on Sturges face before glancing out the window again. 

The Deathclaw sniffed at a gutted car, its tree trunk sized tail swishing idly as it investigated the street where it smelled humans. Totaka could see where this creature got the name “Deathclaw”, as foot long claws extended from huge paws and scraped along the asphalt as it prowled from one side of the street to the other. Buttons, still hiding on the roof, peeking out from behind the faded concrete sign of the hardware store. 

“No time like the present. Get everyone ready to run quietly. Gristle, Preston, ready to lead?” Totaka asked. Determined nods came from both men. “Then let’s save these people.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first of many canon divergences, Totaka does not have patience for petty miscommunications or needless violence. Poor guy has no idea what kind of trouble he's going to get himself into.


	4. Claws and Compromise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Titles Include:  
> Open the Door, Get On the Floor, Everybody Do the Dinosaur  
> Deathclaws, Drive-Ins, and Dives  
> Human Resources

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was supposed to be a two part chapter, but the second part got suuuuper long so I split them.

Totaka was never really a fan of roller coasters; he liked staying close to the ground, and in control of where his body was going. So looking down over the edge of a 3-story building into a street where a massive Deathclaw stalked, Totaka was forced to re-evaluate his distaste for Pre-War adrenaline rushes. This was, in his mind, much worse than when Nora took him to an amusement park for her birthday; her only wish had been to take him on the tallest roller coaster there whereupon he had decided “amusement park” was a duplicitous name for such a place. 

Totaka shook the thoughts from his mind and focused on the task at hand, looking up across the street to see Buttons staring at him wide eyed. He motioned for her to crouch down, giving her a silent thumbs up as she followed and even held onto the sign next to her. With that, Totaka looked over the edge one last time and took a literal leap of faith. 

* * *

**_BOOM._ ** The shocks of the Power Armor rattled as Totaka hit the ground, immediately alerting the Deathclaw to his presence and signaling for the settlers to run. 

“HEY T-REX! OVER HERE!” Totaka bellowed, hefting the Minigun in his arms and stomping backwards towards the Concord Church. He opened fire, bullets spraying against the hide of the Deathclaw as it roared again and raised its arms furiously. The sound shook Totaka’s eardrums painfully, blood thumping through his head just as loud. He had no idea if the bullets were actually hurting this monster, but he knew he had its undivided attention, and was going to keep it that way. 

“COME ON!” He yelled again, his voice cracking as several warning icons flashed on his Power Armor HUD.  **warning, cooling systems nonfunctional, left leg actuator damaged, warning.** Totaka blinked the sweat out of his eyes, the red lights jolting him back to the Vault.

The Deathclaw charged at Totaka with a reckless, brazen roar, and Totaka paused firing the minigun long enough to start running towards the open church doors. He looked back, catching a glimpse of Joseph running out of the corner store with Buttons in his arms, the other settlers already halfway up the street and running as fast as possible. The world spun out as the force of a bus crashed into Totaka’s left side, slamming him into a street lamp pole and sending the minigun flying into the street. 

Metal against metal against claws screamed out and Totaka gasped in pain, shoving his arms in front of him against the Deathclaw’s chest. He managed to stumble back as it swung its foot long claws and missed Totaka by centimeters, grabbing his pistol and firing an entire magazine into the Deathclaw’s face in seconds. Whether by luck or instinctual skill, he blinded the Deathclaw and it roared again and covered its face. Totaka let the magazine fall from his gun and reached for another, looking up in time to see four razor sharp claws in a direct line for his face. The heat in the Power Armor peaked as Totaka felt his heart stop so hard it hurt.  _ No.  _

Totaka twisted to the left and took the hit to the shoulder and chest, the air knocked out of him and warnings on his HUD going ballistic.  **WARNING, SYSTEMS OVERHEATING. EMERGENCY EJECT NOW. WARNING.** Totaka could barely hear or see, scrambling to stay on his feet and reaching behind him to grab anything to defend himself with. His hands found a broken off section of a street lamp, and he swung upwards from the ground. 

_ CRACK.  _ Something in the Deathclaw’s jaw snapped as Totaka made direct contact, the momentum sending him toward the now bloodied, frothing maw as the Deathclaw roared and lashed out. Totaka hugged the makeshift quarterstaff to his chest and deflected most of the blow, panting and feeling his muscles grind against themselves from the crushing force.

* * *

Minigun fire and laser blasts erupted from Totaka’s right and he turned his head to see Gristle and Preston standing side by side and unloading into the Deathclaw. They stepped forward as one, concentrating their fire into the chest of the monster and giving Totaka that split second he needed to stand once more. The Deathclaw roared and rushed the two barely armored men, and Totaka screamed. 

The Deathclaw never reached them, impaling itself on the firmly planted spear Totaka anchored as it charged. He slid back and the Power Armor ground against the asphalt, fighting against the Deathclaw’s momentum as it thrashed and sealed its doom. Totaka heaved the pole up and twisted it down, fully piercing through the Deathclaw and using his full weight and the Power Armor to grind the street lamp pole into the ground.

The thrashing stopped, finally, and Gristle hauled Totaka to his feet as the Power Armor spit him out and shut down. Preston helped catch Totaka as he fell, heat pouring off his stiff body. Totaka coughed and gagged, sweat dripping from his hair as his two new friends helped him stand, and together they all stared at the carnage. 

“You… needed to- to run-!” Totaka wheezed, looking between the two incredulously. Preston shook his head resolutely, glancing as Gristle before looking Totaka in the eyes.

“The Minutemen don’t leave good people behind.” He said.

“We weren’t gonna leave you to that thing. No sane person would try and kill a ‘Claw alone.” Gristle added, securing Totaka’s arm around his shoulder and jerking his head up the road. 

“C’mon. Let’s get you to Red Rocket and patch you up.” He said. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It is 100% canon that every lizard or reptilian creature Totaka sees he WILL call a dinosaur. Geckos? Dinosaurs. Field Lizards? Dinosaurs. Deathclaws? You already know.


	5. The Elephant in the Truck Stop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preston's Settlers and the Concord Raiders talk things through, with Totaka as the mediator. Bombs (of information) get dropped and reshape Totaka's already fragile world.

The three of them, Gristle, Preston, and a barely standing Totaka: made it to Red Rocket Truck Stop unscathed, and the moment Totaka walked into the parking lot, the German Shepherd bounded up to sniff worriedly at his side. Buttons was trying on Sturges’ goggles and telling him about the fuses, waving emphatically and sitting next to him on the countertop. Sturges was listening with a huge smile on his face, nodding and asking her questions every few moments to encourage her. Joseph watched from a distance, half speaking with Sarah and the Korean settlers as he kept an eye on his daughter. 

“Dogmeat sure was worried about you kids.” Mama Murphy said from her seat under the outcropping of the diner. “I Saw that you’d be alright.” Her statement was met with an uncomfortable silence, Preston practically glaring daggers into Gristle’s head as he whistled.

“I’ll be damned… I thought Jared was nuts for believing that shit. You really think you have this… Sight thing.” Gristle said, accepting a dirty carton of water from Sarah and shaking his head. Totaka sat down and leaned against the gas pump behind him, wincing as the adrenaline started to leave his body aching and burnt out. 

“What’s the Sight?” Totaka asked hoarsely, accepting water from Sturges and looking between Mama Murphy and Gristle curiously. Mama Murphy chuckled.   
“Just listen to me, actin' the crazy old lady. It's the chems, you see. They give ole Mama Murphy the "Sight." Been that way since I was a girl.” She started. “I can see a bit of what was, and what will be. And even what is, right now.” She stood up, batting away Preston’s insistent help. 

“I’m fine Preston, quit fussin’. As for you…” She looked Totaka with milky, mystical eyes, “You need to stay strong. Like you been. Cause there's more to your destiny. I've seen it. And I know your pain.” Everyone in the small gathering was silent, and Totaka looked at her nervously.

“What do you mean Mama Murphy?” he asked patiently, shifting with apprehension. She sighed, smiling at him with a sad understanding. 

“You're a man out of time. Out of hope. But all's not lost. I can feel... your son's energy. He's alive. And even I don’t need the Sight to tell you where to start lookin. The great, green jewel of the Commonwealth. Diamond City. The biggest settlement around.” Mama Murphy yawned and went to sit back down, leaving Totaka in a stunned silence with eight people staring at him in confusion. He swallowed, almost choking as his throat was so dry and tight it felt like he’d swallowed all the dust in Concord. 

“I never said I had a son. Or- or anything really.” He looked down. “You’ve given me a lot to think about.” He sniffed and looked up, standing with a groan and leaning on the rusted out gas pump. He felt a glaring need to change the subject, and address the elephant in the room.

“So now comes the uncomfortable conversation of where to go next.” He said, looking around and pausing to look into each person’s eyes. Preston looked exhausted, and hopeful, matched by Sturges smile as he looked up and pointed for Buttons to listen to Totaka. Joseph, the Korean couple Totaka hadn’t gotten the names of, and Sarah all seemed equal parts nervous and tired. Gristle coughed into his fist and shifted uncomfortably. 

“Yeah, I should go. Jared’s gonna have my fucking head.” He started. Totaka frowned as Preston tensed the grip on his laser musket.  
“Well, hold on. What are our options right now? I’m sensing that this Jared fellow is your… commanding officer?” Totaka asked, hesitating on the title as it seemed so out of place.

“Boss. Raider boss, runs Lexington.” Gristle corrected. “He’s a crazy desperate Jet junkie who thinks this lady,” he gestured to Mama Murphy, “Is the answer to his problems. Or, her Sight is.” He sighed and ran a hand over his face, looking at Joseph guiltily. They shared some kind of silent agreement, and Gristle sighed again. Preston was still and Sturges had his arm perched near Buttons protectively, watching the silent interactions and looking to Totaka for… 

“A decision needs to be made.” He said. “Who is coming with me to Sanctuary Hills, and who is going back to Lexington?” More silence, this time not quite as heavy but still weighted as every person there looked at each other and within themselves. Joseph was the first to speak.  
“I want to have a home, a real one. If not for me then for Buttons.” He stated, giving Gristle another look and turning to Sarah. She nodded, rubbing her arm anxiously and avoiding everyone’s eyes.

“I’m coming too. I hate the way things are, I never meant for it to get this bad.” She said, more to herself than anyone else. Buttons bounced happily and handed Sturges a fuse from her overalls pocket. 

“I’m gonna get real good at fixin things with Sturges, and he’s too big to find the good scrap anyhow.” She said, earning a laugh from everyone and easing the tension in the truck stop by the ton. Sturges conceded with a wave of his hand and a grin, shrugging.

“I say the more in our settlement the merrier, we’re going there for a second chance and y’all look li’ you need one just as much as us. It’d be a shame not to work together for a fresh start.” He said, smiling at Preston and jerking his head for him to say something. Preston cleared his throat. 

“I agree with that, we’ve been running too long on too little and I… I reacted, rather than thought. I’m sorry.” He said to Gristle, who just shrugged in understanding.

“Natural order of things until Vaultie here came and kicked the door down.” 

“Are you actually considering letting raiders come with us?” The Korean woman spoke up angrily, her voice acidic as she stood up.   
“Marcy, we need to be reasonable here.” Preston started, cut off by her jabbing a finger at him.

“No! These are raiders, Preston, they’ll kill us in our sleep and rob whatever we have the second they get the chance!” She snapped. Preston opened his mouth to argue and Sturges put his arm over Buttons again, stopping them both before Totaka could even register what was happening. 

“Enough, both of ya! Marcy, I can see where you’re comin’ from; they’re new people and they’ve probably done exactly what you just said before. Rather than point fingers, or blindly assume we’re all keen on settlin’ down to live honest an’ full lives, let’s ask Gristle, Joseph and Sarah. And Buttons.” he said, adding Buttons as she tugged insistently on his sleeve. 

Awkward silence followed, the third silence of the group and the eerie quiet starting to grate against Totaka’s nerves. Gristle cleared his throat roughly, and rubbed the back of his neck. Everyone stared at him and he held up his hands, hesitating before speaking his piece. 

“Look… Jared’s gonna be fucking pissed when any of us go back empty handed. I can spin some bullshit that the Deathclaw killed you all and I escaped or something, but if he catches wind she’s alive, or that this settlement has resources like what you said? He’ll kick the doors down a lot harder than you Vaultie.” He said. Totaka sighed deeply, looking at the ground with his chin tucked against his knuckles. Gristle knew what he was talking about, clearly, but his offer would give them time to come up with an actual plan. 

“I believe you. You’ll really cover for this?” He asked, one eyebrow cocked sharply. Gristle looked at Buttons, and nodded, giving her a thumbs up. She gave him two back, and Gristle extended his thumbs up to Joseph and Sarah. They looked shocked, more than anything.

“Yeah, I’ll cover. Just don’t come to Lexington.” He said, glaring at all of them warningly.   
“We’ll steer clear. Thank you.” Preston assured, shifting the laser musket out of his left-handed grip and extending it to Gristle. They shook hands, firmly, and Totaka offered his and clasped Gristle’s arm. 

“Thank you. If you find a way out of there or decide differently, I’ll keep those doors I kicked down open.” He said, looking directly into Gristle’s anxious eyes and nodding once. Totaka unholstered his 10mm pistol and offered it to Gristle, who raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe this will soften the empty handed problem. If not, you’re welcome to shoot Jared with it for the trouble.” He chuckled, earning a laugh from Gristle and Sturges. As Gristle left, 10mm in hand, Totaka turned to the settlers as Preston hefted his laser musket into a comfort grip again. He smiled tiredly, lifting his chin and nodding to the road ahead.

“All right everyone, thanks to our new friend here it’s safe to move out. Next stop, Sanctuary Hills.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hoo boy that sure was a tense chapter to write, even I wasn't sure if each sentence was a word away from a shootout. Gristle is the actual name of the leader sent to Concord, he's the one who taunts the player when they initially get the Power Armor. He may or may not return in a future chapter. 
> 
> Next chapter is gonna be emotional as heck, buckle in for some Sanctuary Sad Times.


End file.
